Old button with bird "No. 8"

[James57]

Old button with bird "No. 8"

I found this old button and I can't ID it. The bird symbol looks vaguely familiar. I've been checking various button sites and looking up national symbol but no luck so far. Has anyone ever seen one of these?

I thought that it might be an Andean Condor because I found an 1853 Chilean centavo at the site a couple of weeks ago. The centavo is a long way from home. I can't make out the writing on the button very well. It has a No. 8 at the bottom. I can make out 2 words near the top: "DE MES" which is probably Spanish ("of months"). The last word looks like it might be something like "ENDRES" although Google translate doesn't recognize it. The Chilean coat of arms has a condor but it looks nothing like the bird on the button. Any ideas?

 

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[trikikiwi]

Re: Old button with bird "No. 8"

I think I have it..... Awesome find

These buttons have been attributed to Henri Cristophe's Royal Haitian Army (circa 1810-1820). There are several varieties. They all have a depiction of a crowned phoenix and the
inscription "Je renais des mes cendres" which means "I rise from my ashes". It seems the phoenix motif was used as the Haitian state symbol as early as 1811. The symbol was also associated with one of Christophe's two infantry guard units as it was used on their regimental colors. The buttons usually have
regimental numbers. This may suggest that they were used by other units as well. Some also have markings indicating they were produced in England. After Cristophe's death in 1820, the buttons apparently were used by more than the Hatian's as they show up in the northern part of the Spanish empire such as Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, California, the Pacific Northwest (where Indians may have used them as jewelry), and even in Hawaii.

http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/cgi-bin/findbuddy/buddy_config.pl?noframes;read=1059

Mike

 

[nhbenz]

Re: Old button with bird "No. 8"

Another link with potentially helpful info:
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...22Je+renais+de+mes+cendres%22&um=1&hl=en&sa=N

 

[James57]

Re: Old button with bird "No. 8"

That is it! Thanks! I looked up the pheonix buttons and apparently a shipment of them ended up in a Portland Oregon trading post in 1820. That is several hundred miles south of me. They were traded to the local natives for furs and salmon and they were probably used as decoration. They are sometimes found up and down the west coast of North America.